Interior design agency, Geyer, has completed a childcare centre project for Stockland in Castlereagh Street in Sydney.

A number of design challenges were identified, including investigating the footprint sizes for four childcare operating models, bringing an outdoor feel into the space, minimising the impact of the new structure on the quality of retail space below and successfully integrating the façade to enhance the existing retail space.

Located on Level 2 of the building, the space is entirely indoors. The brief, however, required a balance of indoor and outdoor play experiences.

Outdoor space was created in a fully enclosed environment utilising the atrium which now floods the area with natural light, while a selection of dynamic organic finishes and textures create an 'outdoor' sensory experience, including a sandpit with water, a playground area with park-like picnic benches,and a rainforest-like garden designed by playground specialist Ric McConaghy.

Geyer adopted a Green Star approach to the project, with all environmentally sustainable finishes and furniture being used. Not only do the finishes serve functional, visual and environmental objectives but also feature an educational element. For example, the use of 3-Form semi-transparent colour acrylic sheets in the joinery subtly teach children about colour mixing.

To prevent storage from encroaching into usable space, two-way mobile joinery storage units were designed to allow teachers to create flexible spaces in the playroom that can accommodate different activities.

Geyer also collaborated with Frost design to develop graphic applications such as the timber graphic that runs around the perimeter of the outdoor playground to emulate a fence.

Geyer’s clever answer to minimising the impact of the new structure on the retail space below was to enhance the base building architecture and play with the opacity and translucency of glazing to provide a sense of movement without appearing too heavy.